The present invention relates generally to pedagogical devices for teaching control of air flow from the mouth and, more particularly, to such devices as are used to teach air flow isolation for use in playing the flute and like musical instruments.
The present invention is an improvement upon the flute embouchure/air direction visualization tool invented by Kathrny L. Blocki and Herbert A. Blocki and the subject of a provisional United States patent application filed on or about Nov. 25, 1997. That prior device has been commercially available under the brand name Pneumo Pro. The content of that provisional patent application is specifically incorporated herein by reference as a background to the present invention.
The prior device generally included a longitudinally extending shaft, a quadrant with an aperture therethrough for receiving the shaft, a plurality of posts mounted on the quadrant in parallel to the shaft, and a propeller mounted on each of the posts. The shaft included a slot which simulated a flute embouchure plate and through or over which the student was to blow in practicing. The propellers of each post were positioned in predetermined locations about the slot according to the specific air directions being taught. The student could see the direction and degree of air flow via the rotation of the propellers when the student exhaled air at the slot. A handle was formed by an abutting shaft fixed at one end of the device to facilitate gripping the tool. A support block was provided adjacent the quadrant and through which the shaft was inserted to assist in fixing the quadrant position relative to the shaft.
While the prior device has performed its intended function as a pedagogical tool, significant care and precision could be needed in assembly and alignment of the propellers laterally and longitudinally with respect to the slot. This arose principally because the apertures in the quadrant and support block permitted the shaft to freely rotate and slide longitudinally with respect to those elements during assembly. Further, the abutting shaft could tend to permit rotation of the handle portion with respect to the shaft, thereby reducing stability in use, due to its fixture only along the longitudinal axis of the shaft. Such loss of stability can cause disorientation of the mouth to the slot which disrupts the desired air flow.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for teaching air flow isolation in breath direction. Other objects include the provision of such an apparatus which:
a. Is less expensive and time consuming to manufacture,
b. Can be readily assembled and accurately aligned by the user,
c. Is more stable in use and less prone to twist, and
d. Reliably establishes alignment of the air flow impingement indicia.
These and other objects of the present invention are obtained by the provision of a second slot in the longitudinally extending shaft of the prior tool, longitudinally spaced apart from the first slot, for automatically aligning the quadrant, and thereby the propellers, longitudinally and laterally with respect to the first slot during assembly of the apparatus and retaining the propellers in that orientation during usage. The first and second slots each include a generally flat bottom face and those faces are generally parallel to each other. The quadrant and support block (if used) are formed with flat portions or surfaces which can be received in the second slot to establish a fixed point of longitudinal reference and an intersecting surface to establish a fixed point of lateral or rotational reference with respect to the first slot. In addition, the handle is formed from a section of intersecting shaft having an aperture therein for receiving the end of the longitudinal shaft. A fastening element locks the two shafts together after insertion by passing through a portion of each of them at the intersection within that aperture.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will now be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following drawings and description of preferred embodiments.